What it is
Movies in the dark. The TV will be used for watching movies in a controlled environment, directly in front, in a home theater way. Mostly only high quality content, like Blu-rays, UHD Blu-rays, streaming and a little bit of HDR.

What it is
TV Shows in a bright living room. The TV will be used in to watch TV shows, in a bright room during the day, from multiple viewing positions at different angles. The content watched has an average quality: cable, streaming, SD channels, etc.

What it is
Video games. The TV will be used to play video games, directly in front, in a controlled light environment. Usually fast games, like online FPS, where motion blur and input lag is important.

What it is
HDR Gaming. The TV will be used to play HDR video games using consoles that support it or on current generation gaming PCs. Xbox One S, PS4 Pro, GTX 10 series and AMD RX series graphics cards.

The Samsung KS9500 4k UHD TV is a very well balanced TV. Its picture quality is great no matter the room, source or content being played. It can get very bright and handles reflections well. When viewed from the side though, its picture quality diminishes.

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Design

The Samsung KS9500 has a great look. Its design is very simple, yet very sleek. The TV is really thin, lines are pure, metal parts boast a chrome finish and even its back have a nice textured dark-gray finish. It will definitely look good in any room.

Stand

The metal stand has a chrome finish. It goes quite deep against the back of the TV.

Footprint of the 55" TV stand: 33.9" x 15"

Back

Wall Mount
:
Vesa 400x400

In rare setups where the back of the TV is visible (TV in the middle of a room), the Samsung KS9500 will look great. A cover hides the One Connect box connection.

Borders

Borders
:
0.39" (1.0 cm)

Borders are thin and sports a simple and elegant metal finish.

Thickness

Max Thickness
:
2.6" (6.6 cm)

Everything's thin on the Samsung KS9500. Its maximum thickness, when viewed directly from the side, only appears larger because of the curved screen.

Picture quality of the Samsung KS9500 is impressive. Blacks are very deep and the uniformity is good. There is excellent wide color reproduction and a very high peak brightness. From low to high resolutions, details are always crisp. Deals with reflections very well, but unfortunately the picture quality diminishes when viewed from the side.

Good value:
Full-array/direct lighting is better for local dimming. As for the uniformity of the screen, it depends on the implementation. Some edge-lit TVs have more uniform blacks than some full-array TVs.

Local dimming isn't that good. Full array backlight TVs can do much better. We used local dimming ('Smart LED') set at 'High' for this test and unfortunately, the dot in our video stayed pretty dimmed. In practice, more blooming can be seen than in our video. The blooming shape is a big vertical band.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity the TV can obtain while playing a movie or while watching a TV show. This scene was selected to represent a more regular movie condition. All measurement are made with the TV set to be as bright as possible, but with a 6500k white. Measured with local dimming, max backlight and over SDR signal. Scene: here.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright highlights, present on screen for a short time; especially for SDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright objects, present on screen for a short time; especially for SDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright highlights, persistent throughout a scene; especially for SDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

When it matters:
Bright objects, persistent throughout a scene; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over SDR signal.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity the TV can obtain while playing a movie or while watching a TV show. This scene was selected to represent a more realistic movie condition. All measurement are made with the TV set to be as bright as possible, but with a 6500k white. Measured with local dimming, max backlight and over HDR signal. Scene: here.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright highlights, present on screen for a short time; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright objects, present on screen for a short time; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The maximum luminosity, even if only maintained for a short time, of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 2% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright highlights, persistent throughout a scene; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 10% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

When it matters:
Bright objects, persistent throughout a scene; especially for HDR content.

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 25% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 50% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

What it is:
The lowest maximum luminosity (usually after it has stabilized) of a white square covering 100% of the screen, with the TV set to be as bright as possible. Measured with local dimming and over HDR signal (if supported).

The brightest results we have seen so far. In this test, we used the 'High' setting for local dimming ('Smart LED') since it was able to brighten our 2% window the most. It went as high as 1490 cd/m². This mean bright highlights can get very, very bright. Good value for the 50% window too which mean the whole screen can also get pretty bright. Peak brightness works a little differently than on the Sony X930D. On the Samsung KS9500, on all window sizes, peak brightness will diminish after some time, but goes back up when something moves on the screen, like our mouse cursor. On regular materials, this mean brightness is more stable. Big blooming areas can be seen around some bright highlights though.Update: Updated with sustained brightness.

Very good for an LED TV. The edges of the screen are darker but the TV is free from any obvious banding issue. The dirty screen effect (DSE) isn't much of a problem for sports when camera pans over playing fields.

There is some faint cloud spots that can be seen on a totally black screen and the top edge of the screen is slightly more lit up than the rest of the screen. Overall though, the black uniformity of the Samsung KS9500 is among the best we have seen.

The Samsung KS9500 performs very similarly to the other KS* TVs, and is one of the best color volume performers of the 2016 models. It can produce bright, saturated colors but unfortunately at low luminosity levels the volume is limited.

Although the Samsung KS9500 has a glossy screen, its screen doesn't reflect a lot of lights. The curve also stretch the reflections so they appear wider but less harsh. Some little rainbow effects can be observed around bright objects but aren't that noticeable.

Motion

The Samsung KS9500 is great at handling motion. It has a bit of blur on fast moving objects but nothing very distracting. When playing movies from any source they appear smooth. Motion can be interpolated up to the native panel refresh rate of 120Hz.

Dark to bright transitions, like the 0% to 100%, take longer. This can be seen on our moving logo test, where the right edge of the logo appears darker. As a whole though, motion is good on the Samsung KS9500.

The TV is able to detect and do the reverse 3:2 pulldown on all sources inluding 60i and 60p. For those two, we had to set 'Auto Motion Plus' to 'Custom' with both sliders to 0. This didn't add the soap opera effect.

Motion interpolation ('Auto Motion Plus') can be enabled on all content. This will smooth out motion, but also add the soap opera effect (SOE). Low 'Custom' values will add smoothness without much of the SOE.

Inputs

The input lag of the KS9500 is very low, which is great. It supports a wide range of resolutions and inputs. Text appears very clear when in 'PC' mode regardless of the background. Unfortunately it doesn't support a 120Hz signal.

Very fast 1080p input lag. All types of games feel responsive. Competitive gamers will like the benefit they get from that low input lag. 'Game' mode has to be selected from the 'Special viewing modes' under the 'Picture' menu to get the lowest input lag. When sending and HDR signal at 1080p resolution under game mode, the input lag is 22.6ms.

To enable 4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4, turn on 'HDMI UHD Color' from the picture menu. For the other resolutions, 4:4:4 can be enabled only by enabling PC mode (on the list of inputs, hover the current input used and press up on the remote, then 'Edit' and select 'PC'). We have measured 37.1 ms of input lag under 'PC' mode. A curved screen is always nice when sitting up close on setups where the TV is used as PC monitor.

Sound Quality

Compared to most TV, the Samsung KS9500 produce an acceptable sound. Anyone that care about sound would still like a sound bar better but those that doesn't have the space required for an external solution or doesn't want to create cluttered around the TV should be somewhat satisfied with the sound of this TV.

Note: Sound Quality test for TVs reviewed before 2017 was performed at 75dB, 85dB, and Max SPL. Starting 2017, the target SPL levels have been changed to 70dB, 80dB, and Max dB SPL.

Smart Features

The revamped interface of the Tizen smart platform is a welcome improvement. It isn't as pretty as LG's WebOS smart platform but a step in the right direction. It is also very responsive on the Samsung KS9500 and provide the most popular apps. A Mini One Connect box come with this TV and offers enough inputs for most needs. The included remote works well too and can even work as a universal remote for devices connected to the TV.

When a new device is detected (such as when a computer is woken from sleep while plugged into an HDMI port) the TV automatically switches to this device. This may be an annoyance if you are watching other content at the time.

Apps

The 2016 Tizen smart platform offer the most popular apps plus more. Navigation between the different apps menus is quick and straightforward. The different menus of the TV also look better than on the 2015 Samsung TVs.

A single button is found underneath the Samsung logo at the base of the TV. Simple commands can be performed like changing inputs, volume and turning the TV on and off. This button is easily accessible if the TV is wall-mounted, which is handy.

Remote

Remote
:
Smart

The remote is simple to use and feels good in hand. It can be a little hard to operate in the dark though since not all buttons have tactile feedback. It doesn't work as a pointer like some other Samsung remotes so text input can feel cumbersome at times.

The Samsung KS8000 is way cheaper and offers near identical picture quality. The KS9500 has only slightly better brightness and speakers that really aren’t worth the asking price compared to the KS8000.

The Samsung JS9500 has a slightly inferior but similar picture quality and can be found for cheaper. It has a better local dimming. It also has 3D over the KS9500. The KS9500 has a better picture quality in a dark room and offers better HDR. It also is a better fit in the living room because of its added brightness and low amount of reflections.

For watching movies in the dark and playing video games, the Vizio P is better. For cable TV and sports with long camera traveling shots, like in football and hockey, the Samsung KS9500 is better. For a similar picture quality and since the Vizio P goes for a lot cheaper than the KS9500, more often than not, the Vizio P is a smarter buy.

The Sony X930D has 3D and the KS9500 does not. Beside of this, the KS9500 is the better TV. Movies, including HDR, look better on it. Video games that requires fast reflexes like online shooters or combat games will run better on the KS9500. The KS9500 is also a better fit in the living room with its better brightness and low amount of screen reflections.

Excellent performance for a variety of usages. Picture quality is great. Movies perform excellently. TV is bright enough for any room. Displays any resolution of content clearly. Unfortunately the picture quality diminishes when viewed from the side.

What it is
Movies in the dark. The TV will be used for watching movies in a controlled environment, directly in front, in a home theater way. Mostly only high quality content, like Blu-rays, UHD Blu-rays, streaming and a little bit of HDR.

What it is
TV Shows in a bright living room. The TV will be used in to watch TV shows, in a bright room during the day, from multiple viewing positions at different angles. The content watched has an average quality: cable, streaming, SD channels, etc.

Great for daytime TV in a bright room. Excellent picture quality when viewed directly in front. Bright enough to compete with reflections, and coating handles reflections well. Unfortunately when viewed from the side the picture quality diminishes.

What it is
Video games. The TV will be used to play video games, directly in front, in a controlled light environment. Usually fast games, like online FPS, where motion blur and input lag is important.

Questions & Answers

Don't know yet. We have the KS8000 here, which we will publish the review next week. We also ordered the KS8500 and KS9000, but their reviews will only be published in about a month or so.Update: Review posted of the KS8000.

Peak brightness

Peak brightness behaves differently depending on the 'Active LED' setting. There is no variation of brightness when the setting is off or set at 'Low'. On 'High', the TV will reach its peak brightness, stay at max for a few seconds and start to dim until it reaches its the low value. When something is moving on the screen (our mouse cursor for example), the TV goes back to the peak brightness value of the specific window size. It shouldn't vary much on normal content because of this.

Window Size

Off

Low

High

Max

Min

Max

Min

Max

Min

2%

521 cd/m2

521 cd/m2

318 cd/m2

318 cd/m2

1412 cd/m2

501 cd/m2

10%

518 cd/m2

518 cd/m2

488 cd/m2

488 cd/m2

1400 cd/m2

494 cd/m2

25%

516 cd/m2

516 cd/m2

508 cd/m2

508 cd/m2

924 cd/m2

492 cd/m2

50%

513 cd/m2

513 cd/m2

511 cd/m2

511 cd/m2

617 cd/m2

500 cd/m2

100%

507 cd/m2

507 cd/m2

510 cd/m2

510 cd/m2

507 cd/m2

503 cd/m2

Note: This table was done without sending an HDR signal, which is why it is different than the measurements in our review.

Overall, the Vizio P is really great at some stuff, but falls short on others. The KS9500 is more balanced without major flaws, so a safer choice for the average guy with mixed usage. But as mentioned previously, both are great TVs.

I wanted to start off by saying great work at what you guys do here. Very detail information and reviews. I've recently purchased an LG 55EF9500 a week before the new Samsung models came out. Would you guys recommend me taking a look at the ks8000/ks9000 or is the 55EF9500 an overall better TV? Would appreciate it so much for a recommendation on those 3 tvs. Thank you for your time and help.

Good timing with your question. We were currently playing a few games on the LG EF9500, Samsung KS9500 and Vizio P Series at the same time.

Top left: Vizio P65-C1. Top right: Samsung UN55KS9500. Bottom left: LG 55EF9500. (Not good quality picture, do not draw conclusions from that picture).

We haven't tested the KS8000/KS9000 yet, but for sure, the EF9500 is still better overall, and even compared to the KS9500. If you can live with OLED's issues (poor dark gray uniformity for example), and don't mind the more limited color gamut, the 55EF9500 is one step above all LED TVs.

I've noticed that some scores of other TVs changed recently. Can you go into more details about the changes?

We list all our major updates to the formula of the scores here. Recopied here with a bit more details:

Gradient are now scored and part of HDR (with a weight of 20%)

Increased weight Local Dimming in Dark Scene (from 17% to 26%)

Increased weight HDR in Movies (from 13% to 19%)

Increased weight Gray Uniformity in Sports (from 33% to 44%)

Increased weight Input Lag in Video Games (from 31% to 35%)

Reflections scored adjusted for consistency

You can see the full breakdown of the weights and what is included in each category by clicking the ? next to each category in our reviews, or navigating our full test suite under the 'Tests' tab at top of our website.

Also, don't forget that the overall score is only if you have a mixed usage. If you care more about a certain aspect, for example, movies in a dark room, look at this category subscore instead (which you can sort by here).

This TV is said to have the same issues as last years Sony x900c had. One, it's lit on both top and bottom rather than edge lit. Two, when watching movies in the dark, the screen bleeds and blooms in the letterhead. Other sites like digital trends have let people know this, while I like the picture quality this TV offers, I think last years 9500 was better due to its Full Array panel. Any concerns for hardcore moviephiles? Btw great site and information.

The local dimming on the KS9500 definitely has a vertical blooming that can be seen in the letterbox. This isn't that noticeable in front, but it is at an angle. Reducing the aggressiveness of the 'Smart LED' feature helps a little bit, but won't make it go away unless you turn it off completely. If that is something that bothers you, last year's JS9500 would be better (or the Vizio P Series).

I witnessed severe light flashing from the bottom edge lit Samsung KS models at the Best Buy. It is really distracting in dark room setting as it was being displayed. I noticed that there was no mention of that in the review. For me this is a dealbreaker as the room I will use this will be completely dark. This is particularly bad with the black bars and this samsung model being bottom edge lit doesnt have the option like the JS series to keep the bars dark.. Is this something Samsung fixed after shipping the show room models?

We also noticed that on ours, the Samsung KS9500 has vertical blooming when local dimming is on high. If you were to set it to low it will not be as noticeable.

I currently use my old Panasonic ST30 Plasma as my main pc gaming screen(and consoles as well), and I'm leaning towards the Vizio due to the better motion and lower lag. And since i need a 49"-50" max. panel, the max i can go with Samsung is the KS8500, which in other reviews is showing 40ms of lag.
And the lower price is also another thing pulling me to the Vizio.
My main question is this:
As a Plasma user, whom is used to the great motion of Plasma..and dark blacks, which is the better choice?
(I'm no fan of LED's and eventually will go with an OLED, when the price drops under 2K, hopefully in 2017/2018?. So my choice is baised on a 2 year usage only)
Thanks..and just wanted to say, you're site is the best online, by far :)

We haven't reviewed the Samsung KS8500, so it's very hard to say which one is better than the other. We should be covering it sometime this month, hopefully that will help you decide between the two.

From what I understand the ks9500 and the ks9000 are the same tv with the same features with the exception of one being curved and the other being flat.... According to what Samsung says at least but history and experience are great teachers and have taught me never to take words without evidence - which of course is where you guys step in to set the record straight on things and expose things.
On another note, it would've been nice if you guys reviews the Vizio P55 to see how it stacks up to the P65. Or at least give us a number for its contrast so we have quantifiable numbers to see if having Full Array Local Dimming really does counter the shortcomings of being an IPS panel than the somewhat generic answer you wrote for it.
It's a small thing, but seeing as it seems like these 2 tvs will be the two ducking it out this year it will go a long way.

Our review of the KS9000 will be posted this week. As you said, we do expect it to be the same thing as the KS9500, but flat. As for the P55, we are not sure if we will have time to do it, as there are a lot of new models that we want to cover first before starting testing multiple sizes per model.Update: Review posted of the KS9000.

I've had this TV on preorder since February and I'm scheduled to be receiving it in the next few days. Samsung recently released more of the specs on the KS9800 and I wanted to know if that TV would be worth waiting for instead. Since it will be having a full array and 10-bit display.

We haven't reviewed the KS9800 yet, so we don't know for sure. If the JS9500 of last year (which was full array, like the KS9800) is of any indications, it means the KS9800 will have a better local dimming and picture quality in a dark room than the KS9500, but a bit worse for gray uniformity.

I'm curious as to how the KS9500 is achieving darker blacks with an edge lit display vs. the Vizio P series with Full array and 128 zones?

We take our black measurements without local dimming, therefore the different zones have no effect on the result. Even when turning local dimming on, it doesn't change our measurement because we use a checkboard pattern for this test. The Vizio P definitely has better local dimming.

After reading reviews I plan on purchasing the 65KS8000. However, we sit 10'-11' from the TV. Would you still recommend purchasing this 4K TV even though we sit past the 8.5' guideline? If not, do you have another recommendation?

As a rule of thumb, people find the field of view most comfortable for a 65" TV at a distance of 10'. You are slightly far for the size but it is still a great pick.

Since they are about the same price do you prefer the 2015 LG OLED 65 inch 9500 or the 2016 Samsung KS9500?
Could you briefly describe advantages of each? Thanks

Due to the differences in panel types, the LG has better picture quality when watched in a dark room and also retains the quality better when viewed from the side. It also has better motion performance for sports. However it cannot get as bright, and so may have problems from reflections in a typical living room. It also has a higher input lag than the KS9500 which may be an issue for gamers, and suffers from temporary image retention after static screens. For a bright living room go with the KS9500, otherwise the OLED EF9500 is a better all-round TV.